Shinobu Wakamiya
Shinobu Wakamiya is the current Karuta Queen. She is also the youngest Queen in karuta history. Appearance Shinobu has blue eyes and a dark blue wavy, messy hair. On her left eye she has a beauty mark. She also looks beautifully slim, with full eyes that are accentuated by their upturned corners. Her characteristics are fox-like as she carefully exudes a calm exterior as she plays her "silent karuta" but has almost volatile, contradictory emotions inside. Her face, whether chubby or slim, is shown to have a very sharp defined quality meaning that she is a person who is more prone to speak with their body language rather words. Her first appearance was in her uniform upon meeting Chihaya at the Omi Jingu. Later, she has been described as someone who is cute but having the fashion sense of a rock in episode 14. She appeared with her shirt tucked-in with the design of "Snowmaru" which no other character than Chihaya seems to know of. She is shown to have grown fat in her match with Yumi Yamamoto. By the next Omi Jingu tournament the following year, she became slim again. Personality It appeared when she was playing with Chihaya Ayase that her opponents are vigorous and determined at first but later give up. She would feel like she was simply playing karuta alone. Shinobu is said to win karuta with her signature smile. However, she showed a furious and determined face during a match against Chihaya. Shinobu stated that she won't let Chihaya take a single card from her in their next match. She is rather a quiet person and she sometimes show her soft side. When Arata was disqualified she begged the Seniors to let him play again, when he refused to play again, Shinobu was angered at this saying she doesn't want to win unfairly. Shinobu is an eccentric like the Meijin of karuta, Hisashi Suo. This was noted by Arata when she came all the way from Kyoto to Tokyo to actually see the annual Birdman rally but not see a karuta tournament happening. Her eccentricity is also noted by Chihaya on several occasions in the first TV series: first is her adoration of rare merchandise like her Snowmaru T-shirt that she really seems to like this affection for merchandise is so obsessive at times that she apparently ate more than 20 icecreams to get some unique tokens to get a Snowmaru box of assortments that made her look chubby in the finals of Queen title without her being aware also of her drastic weight gain. Due to her difficult childhood of enforced distancing from people she counts the karuta cards as her friends, even apologising to them internally if she manages to lose them to an opponent. Shinobu is a vulpine character as in she shows all placidity externally but can be a whirlwind of storms inside. Her volatile nature, however, at times becomes apparent especially when Arata, Chihaya or Hisashi are around as she finds them challenging and has used the word "irritation" to describe Suo. Recently Shinobu is trying to assert her independence. Unfortunately, the restrictive upbringing she received from her family (particularly from her grandmother) affects her in other aspects of her life as well. She has no work experience whatsoever, and any prospect she finds will be filtered by her grandmother before she can apply. Relationships Chihaya Ayase It would seem that at first Chihaya was just any other opponent that Shinobu has played with. First looking so pumped to play against the Queen only to be overwhelmed and give up in the middle, however that was not the case for Chihaya. Chihaya piqued the Queen's curiosity by getting back into the game. They only have fought against each other once and have things in common. For instance, Shinobu was able to recognize the "Daddy Bear" logo on Chihaya's t-shirt and had an accidental outburst about it. Chihaya then notices Shinobu's "Snowmaru" shirt as both are momentarily distracted by each other's shirts. Shinobu has called Chihaya a rival, and can talk to her without being mean or sarcastic.Chapter 126 Akito Sudo Little is known on how exactly they met, but they do seem to recognize each other and probably had more than one conversation. Sudo dislikes the fact she is the Queen because she reportedly "shoved it in his face". Arata Wataya Arata and Shinobu know each other very well. Shinobu has never beaten Arata. He is the reason that she never won a school level competition while in grade school, despite being in class A since the 4th grade. Shinobu only started winning school level competitions after Arata stopped playing karuta. After Arata returned to playing karuta, they met in the Class A finals for the high school karuta competition. During the match, Arata used his knowledge of Shinobu's personality to exert psychological pressure on her. Ultimately maintaining his winning streak against her by winning the finals of the Class A competition, thus handing the Queen her first loss in a very long time. Generally, Shinobu and Arata seem to know each other very well, with Shinobu able to convince Arata to not drop out of the individual competitions following an incident during the team competitions. Shinobu also attended the group level finals to watch Chihaya and her team compete in Arata's place when Arata was not allowed from doing so by the competition organizers as punishment. Arata also did not hesitate to publicly touch Shinobu to check her temperature following their finals match. History When she and her mother moved to her Grandma's house. Her mother had divorced her father and came to live with her mother. They seem to have been a traditionally rich family with her grandmother being a stern matriarch. Her grandmother suggested that if she did not see her granddaughter thriving in an art she would not keep them in her house. Shonobu tried different things but she proved unable to follow them. The only thing she was good at was playing cards. She was taken by the elaborate pictures on the cards.Though she wasn't consciously aware she was good at playing card-type games. Eventually, she found a box of karuta cards and fell in love with them. Shinobu became a Class A karuta player when she was in fourth grade. Shinobu considers the cards her friends and actively believes that karuta reciprocally responds to her as she to it. In this she and Chihaya have the same sort of bond with the game, During grade school she was teased for her love of karuta but she loved it very much. In the 1st TV series's finals Chihaya notices that Shinobu knows each card so intimately like it was a thread or tapestry that wielded in her own life. This has been her response to karuta since childhood. She reveals that the last time she lost was to Arata Wataya four years earlier than the current timeline. It seems he made a habit of defeating her in tournaments in the first round.Episode 34, Shinobu and Arata encounter each other and talk. Synopsis Trivia * The name "Shinobu" in Japanese literally means "endurance". * Shinobu is left handed. Chihaya was so engrossed in her first match with the Queen that she didn't even realize this. * Shinobu became Queen after defeating Yumi Yamamoto. Yumi later returns, but Shinobu defeats her easily, even after gaining weight. * She started playing karuta after her grandmother saw her playing around with the cards she had found in a box and sent her to the nearby karuta society so that she could learn how to play it. * In episode 22 of Chihayafuru season 2, she commented on Chihaya's t-shirt, saying it was lame. Chihaya heard the comment and showed off her undershirt - a Mommy Bear Tank Top - thus making Shinobu jealous. * Her mother's name is Shiho. * Her grandmother is a politician, one of Kyoto's city councillors.Chapter 126 * She attends Tsusaki High School (津咲高校 Tsusaki Kōkō), a highly prestigious all-girls' school.Chapter 148 References Category:Female Category:Characters Category:Karuta Player Category:Featured Articles Category:Queen